Tiểu thuyết tiếng anh 156 the paradise of death barry letts

Come to SPACE WORLD – the great day out for all the family!’ As Tragan switched off the final dramatic sting of electronic sound, he glanced at Freeth.. ‘My dear Miss Smith,’ he said, ‘y

‘APPARENTLY THE THIGH BONE HAD BEEN BITTEN CLEAN THROUGH – WITH ONE SNAP OF THE TEETH.’

‘THERE ISN’T A CREATURE ON EARTH CAPABLE OF

DOING THAT!’

After a skirmish with an alien warrior in the Middle Ages, Sarah Jane Smith’s life as a journalist in Croydon seems rather tame She decides to track down the enigmatic character who took her back in time; with the Doctor, a good story is never far away Her intuition pays off The Doctor and UNIT are called to investigate a grisly murder at Space World, a futuristic new theme park Tagging along, Sarah and her new colleague Jeremy soon find themselves facing huge crab-like creatures, mind- controlling devices and vicious flesh-eating beetles And

those are just the attractions…

This in an adaptation by Barry Letts of his own radio play, in which Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Shaden and Nicholas Courtney reprised their roles as the Doctor, Sarah, and Brigadier Lethbridge- Stewart Barry Letts is the writer of several of the scripts for the

TV series, and was producer of the show from 1970 to 1974.

TARGET DOCTOR WHO NOVELIZATIONS

8 MILLION COPIES SOLD

C OVER DESIGN :SLATTER-ANDERSON

I LLUSTRATION :ALISTER PEARSON

First published in Great Britain in 1994 by

Doctor Who Books

an imprint of Virgin Publishing Ltd

332 Ladbroke Grove London W10 SAE Original script copyright © Barry Letts 1993 Novelisation copyright © Barry Letts 1994

‘Doctor Who’ series copyright © British Broadcasting

Corporation 1994

The BBC producer of The Paradise of Death was Phil Clarke

The part of the Doctor was played by Jon Pertwee

ISBN 0 426 20413 1 Typeset by Intype, London Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berks

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,

by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent

purchaser

Chapter One

A well-rounded hand daintily selected a violet-flavoured chocolate cream as smooth and as plump as itself and conveyed it carefully to a pair of voluptuously cushioned lips A sigh was mingled with a slight smacking sound as the confection met its end

‘How much longer, Tragan?’

‘Nearly there, Chairman Freeth.’

The great figure pulled itself to its feet and stretched two arms like balloons about to burst

‘I find these flights increasingly tedious, the older I get,’

he said petulantly

Tragan’s expressionless, pale eyes stared back at him

‘Don’t forget the commercial,’ he said

Freeth glanced at the time He spoke sharply ‘Turn it

on then.’

Unhurried, Tragan moved to a small control panel and pressed a switch Half-smiling tones flooded the small saloon: ‘ all that and more from yours truly and many other fabulous guests – after the break!’ A synthesized burst of sci-fi music took over, only to retreat before a torrent of pseudo-urgent words: ‘Feeling like nothing on earth? Come to SPACE WORLD and fly to the moon!’

‘I nearly missed it! Why didn’t you remind me?’

‘May I point out, Chairman – ’

‘Sssh! I want to hear this.’

Freeth sank back onto his overstuffed overwide seat The half-Cockney half-Yankee voice continued relentlessly, ‘ only ten minutes walk from Hampstead station, you can find the experience of a lifetime!’

A great deal was promised: Space Rides to take the breath away; light-sabre duels with the Robot of Death; challenges from the Mars Gladiator to beat; fabulous prizes

to be won

‘ but best of all, the Monsters from Outer Space!

Twenty-one alien creatures, so perfect in every detail, you’ll have to believe that they’re real! Come to SPACE WORLD – the great day out for all the family!’

As Tragan switched off the final dramatic sting of electronic sound, he glanced at Freeth It was apparent that his ill-temper had vanished

‘Not bad Not bad at all,’ his orotund voice boomed out

‘Surprisingly good, in fact Young Kitson is learning I could have wished that they had mentioned the name of the corporation, though That is, after all, the object of the exercise.’

‘Perhaps we should have called it the Parakon Corporation Space Park.’ It was difficult to tell whether Tragan’s suggestion was intended seriously

‘Like a sponsored horse race, you mean? It lacks a

certain je ne sais quoi, I would say Wouldn’t you agree?’

‘If it did the job – ’

‘Ah well, you’re a pragmatist, of course,’ interrupted Freeth ‘The finer feelings are a closed book to you.’ He chuckled comfortably ‘It must be the effect of consorting with those ghastly little pets of yours.’

Tragan looked at him with hooded eyes ‘You’d have been in a fine pickle without them last time.’

‘Mm A nasty moment I’m duly grateful.’ Freeth selected another chocolate with meticulous care ‘A pity about the screaming – and the blood,’ he added

‘Most enjoyable, though.’

‘True, true.’ Freeth popped in a coconut delight and chumped it up with relish ‘It left us with something of a mess to clear up, that’s all,’ he said, a touch indistinctly Sarah Jane Smith was fed-up Or was she? With a grumbling squeak, the sash window of her little studio flat allowed itself to be pushed up far enough for her to lean out and enjoy the fresh breeze coming from the Heath She gazed across the greenery at the immense structure which dwarfed the trees on the night skyline, and felt again

the spasm of frustrated irritation which had become so familiar Outrageous even to think of building that thing Who wants a space rocket in their back yard?

She returned to the matter in hand Perhaps fed-up wasn’t quite the word Disgruntled? No, not that; but not particularly gruntled either She giggled at the word and took a couple of deep breaths, savouring the spring smell of the trees beneath her

What was she on about, for heaven’s sake? Only a couple

of years after taking the plunge into into the murky waters of London journalism, she was She pulled herself

up, irritated by the cliché (murky waters, indeed!) and looked for a suitably wet thought to redeem the suspect metaphor ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men – ’ Oh yes, and what about women? ‘– leads on to fortune?’ Well, she wasn’t doing too badly A flat in Hampstead, no less Well

an attic And writers were supposed to starve in attics, weren’t they?

Not that she was exactly starving, of course A feature writer on a glossy woman’s mag might not have found the pot at the end of the rainbow, in spite of the rumours, but she could always find a bob a two for a handful of rice So what was it?

Was it that she had no project at the moment? Even the prospect of visiting some of the loveliest countryside in England had failed to get her excited about Clorinda’s only suggestion All power to the women who were muscling in

on the age-old male world of sheepdog trials but No Her lack of interest was a symptom, not a cause

Did she want a man? ‘Well, since you ask, Sarah dear,

no, not at the moment.’ (First sign of madness, talking to yourself, that’s what they used to say at school.) Huh! Overgrown schoolboys the lot of them Especially But Sarah wouldn’t even let his name come into her head Mr Zero; Mr Zilch; Mr Errgh: do forgive me if I throw up Talking of which Sarah leaned perilously far out over the window ledge at the sound of raucous singing coming

down the alley Yes, there they were as usual, coming out

of the Dog and Duck That song was yukky enough when Old Bleary Eyes wrapped his tonsils around it, but – ’Da da

de da, I’ve had a few ’ You can say that again, mate

A memory floated from nowhere into Sarah’s head: a slightly dandified figure dressed in a frilly shirt, a velvet jacket and cloak, standing outside an old-fashioned Police Telephone Box, holding the door open for her; and suddenly her grumpy mood was trickling away and she was flooded with a warmth which made her lift her eyebrows in surprise

‘Good heavens above,’ she said aloud, ‘I do believe I’m missing the Doctor!’

‘I did it m-y-y-y-y way!’

With a deal of yawing, Bill and Nobby steered their uncertain course through the long grass in a vaguely north-easterly direction They could hardly get lost using as their prime navigational aid the massive tower, shaped like the original Apollo moon rocket, which rose majestically above the high fence which protected the new theme park

Bill stopped ‘Hang on,’ he said The singing continued Belt up!’

‘Wha’ssa matter?’

‘Opens tomorrow, doesn’t it?’

‘Wha’ you on about?’

‘You know, all that fuss in the papers Monsters and all.’

‘Wha’ about it?’

‘Why don’t we go and have a look? Come on!’

Bill set off purposefully towards the fence Nobby took a

couple of reluctant steps and stopped ‘Wha’ if they are

real? The monsters Like it said in the paper?’ Bill kept on going Nobby slowly followed him

‘Yeah, but I mean, what if they are?’

‘Don’t be a berk Come on, give us a leg up Anyway, they’d be in cages, wouldn’t they?’

Only half convinced, Nobby made his hands into a step

the way he always had But this fence was higher than the wall of old Wilson’s garden where they used to go to steal the fruit dropping off the Victoria plum tree, or the corrugated iron barrier which had hindered their one and only attempt to do some real thieving some three years ago

In the end, on Bill’s insistence that this was the opportunity of a lifetime, they dragged over a fallen beech log, victim of last year’s gale, and climbed with precarious determination, up the stumps of its lost branches, towards the ending of their brief and unproductive lives

Freeth wrinkled his nose fastidiously as Tragan returned

to the saloon from the rear compartment The sound of savage snarls was abruptly cut off by the closing of the door

‘Don’t you ever give them a bath?’

‘Would you like to try?’

‘You could at least hose them down – or take them for a swim I can’t think why you want to get them out at all.’

‘An elementary precaution We’ll be coming in to land

in a few minutes.’

Freeth dabbed at his nose with a fine lawn handkerchief, scented with a perfume blended for his exclusive use

‘You’re always such a moaner, Tragan There’ll be no trouble Kitson would have warned us.’

Tragan’s voice was as colourless as his eyes ‘That’s just what you said last time,’ he said

It was hardly surprising that the building of the theme park had roused so much opposition Rivalling Disneyworld in size and the scope of its attractions, not only did it swallow up acres of London’s favourite open space, it also made it inevitable that the remainder would

be trampled into an ugly death

For the style of its odd-looking buildings, some as seemingly fragile as a spider’s web, others weighing down

the earth as massively as any of the edifices of ancient times, compelling awe in the beholder; the majesty of its wide avenues, lined with peculiar trees as elegant as they were strange (Not real? Run your hands over the bark, smell the flowers); the richness of the giant three-dimensional posters (Colour holography? But that’s impossible!); everything was designed to lure the curiosity and wonder of the paying masses from all over the world Bill and Nobby, however, found Space World as disappointing as a visit to the seaside out of season True, there were the vast pavilions of gleaming metal, cold and still in the light of the full moon; there were the alien carriages mutely waiting to carry the daredevil customer into improbable flights of fear; there were the gigantic structures, out of the pages of a science fiction comic, whose purpose could only be guessed

But where was the fun in being offered a view of the Giant Ostroid – ‘its kick could disembowel an elephant’ –

if the entrance to his lair was firmly locked? How could you ‘fly through the Gargantuan Caverns of Southern Mars’ or ‘take a walk on the wild side of Mercury’ if there was nobody there to let you into the Solar System? All in all, a total bust

Until

‘Hey, look!’ cried Nobby

‘What?’

‘Only a bleedin’ UFO, innit? It’s landing an’ all! That’s

a bit more like it!’

Nobby set off at a fair clip (in a reasonable approximation to a straight line) in the direction he’d been pointing

Bill chased after him ‘Come back, they’ll see us! Nobby!’

But Nobby kept going

The two rows of space ships in Yuri Gagarin Avenue varied considerably in design From a simple rocket

shuttle to the most far-out alien space station which barely stopped short of boggling point, they offered a wide variety

of simulated trips through the Universe The western row had now been extended by one The newcomer’s domed shell had a unique particularity It had, it seemed, no windows or doors – until, with the slightest of humming noises, a crack appeared which broadened to make an exit just wide enough to allow the massive form waiting within

to alight and delicately step towards two figures waiting on the tarmac

‘Ah, Kitson.’

‘Welcome back, Mr Freeth,’ said the younger of the two

‘May I introduce Mr Grebber?’

‘How do you do, Mr Grebber We meet at last.’

The thickset Grebber grasped the pudgy little hand with one that could enclose a brick ‘An honour, Mr Freeth I’m,

er, yeah, that’s right Honoured and – and that.’

‘The honour is all mine, my dear sir Mr Kitson has told

me of the excellent – nay, the magnificent – work your people have done in building our little playground Allow

me to express the gratitude of the Parakon Corporation.’

‘Yeah, well, we aim to please I’ve always ’ But Freeth had turned away

‘No trouble, Kitson?’

‘On the contrary Everything’s going very well.’

Freeth turned to the gaunt figure standing in the space ship entrance ‘There you are, Tragan What did I tell you?

An old misery guts, that’s what you are.’

Tragan’s head jerked sideways ‘Don’t speak too soon,’

he said ‘Look.’

Two figures were coming towards them down the long avenue at a shambling run The first one stopped He waved ‘Where’s the li’l green men then?’ he shouted His companion caught him up and grabbed him by the arm ‘Nobby! Let’s get out of here!’

But Nobby was enjoying himself He pulled away from Bill and performed an elaborate bow He stood up and once

more peered muzzily towards the frozen group of watchers

‘Take me to your leader!’ he cried

Tragan came to life Stepping to one side, he turned and spoke into the ship ‘Go, go, go!’ he snapped

Neither Nobby nor Bill could have had time to realize that time had run out for them With scarcely the chance

to throw up an arm in a futile gesture of self-protection, they were as quickly dead as the victims of a sniper’s bullets

‘That was hardly necessary,’ said Freeth

‘You heard him,’ replied Tragan, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction ‘He must have seen the ship landing.’

The savage snarling of the beasts had already dwindled

to a mumbling slurping growl

‘Oh God! They’re ’ Grebber staggered into the shadows, retching Freeth threw him an amused glance and turned to Tragan

‘Don’t let them both be eaten,’ he said ‘A mangled corpse could be good publicity.’

Chapter Two

The Doctor! Of course, that was it!

Sarah took a gulp of orange juice and spread a slice of wholemeal bread with soft, low fat, vegetable marge, feeling virtuous Sort of There was still a lot to be said for

a thick piece of toasted white sliced, dripping with melted butter, or spread with half an inch of sugary fine-cut marmalade Or both

Well, perhaps not just the Doctor himself It was all the rest of it How could she settle down to the workaday world, albeit the supposedly glamorous world of the investigative journalist, after the sort of experience she had gone through with the Doctor? It was still difficult to believe that she’d actually travelled through time with him

A logical impossibility, time travel She’d read it up And yet

They had first met when Sarah was working on a story The rumour of an official cover-up of the mysterious disappearance of a number of research scientists had taken her, under a false name (she had pretended to be her own aunt, a scientist herself), behind the security barrier at the research establishment in question, only to have her cover penetrated in no time flat by this curious Doctor fellow Well now What to do about it? (A sip of strong black coffee.) Kill two birds with one stone, that’s what (Cliché!) Here was a new project ready made An in-depth interview with the Doctor, supported by boxes quoting the opinions

of his colleagues and rivals If she slanted it right, Clorinda might just go for it

Now where did he hang out? He was scientific adviser to What was it? Where was the telephone book?

Yes, here it was The United Nations Intelligence Task Force

She found herself grinning as she dialled the number It would be just great to see him again

‘Now come on, Doctor You’re not seriously telling me that you travelled to Atlantis in that old Police Box?’

The Doctor had also seemed to think it would be great

to meet again; and he’d agreed straightaway to the idea of

an interview He’d invited her along that very morning to

‘have a bit of a chat’ as she’d put it, on the understanding that she didn’t stop him getting on with his work

Perched on a high stool by the workbench, Sarah felt strangely at home Though the Doctor’s room at UNIT

HQ was fundamentally the traditional lab with bunsen burners, various items of scientific glassware – test-tubes,

of course; flasks and jars; even the obligatory retort, as if she were in a mediaeval alchemist’s study – and odd bits of machinery and electronic equipment, the Doctor had made

it peculiarly his own

Quite apart from the TARDIS standing in the corner, there were innumerable objects lying about, some of which would have seemed more at home in a museum – and others in a junk shop

There were odd pieces of clothing – a hat with an ostrich feather plume; a piece of rusting armour; a very long knitted scarf; a pair of pointed Renaissance slippers – piles of dried vegetable matter, including some horribly twisted fungi a dusty stuffed albatross with wings outstretched (she’d had to duck underneath to get into the room), a large photograph of a man with a shock of white hair and a bushy moustache, (Could it be ? It was, you know Scribbled in the corner, it had, ‘Many thanks for all your help, old friend.’ and it was signed ‘Albert Einstein’) and so on and so on

‘Been having a bit of clear out in the TARDIS,’ the Doctor had said ‘Only trouble is, you never know when something might come in useful.’

Now he looked up from the complex piece of circuitry which was engaging more than half his attention ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said ‘I think I’ve found the trouble It’s a matter

of the temporal what did you say?’

‘Atlantis,’ Sarah repeated ‘You’re having me on, surely.’ The Doctor returned to his work ‘My dear Sarah, as they used to say on Venus ’ His voice trailed away as he peered more closely into the intricate network in front of him

‘Can you come here a moment? There, you see that? Hold it still for me, will you, while I ’ His voice trailed away again

‘That little whojamaflip with the white bit sticking out?’

‘That’s the feller.’ The Doctor picked up a looking tool with tiny jaws shaped like a beetle’s mandibles and poked it into the mess of wires

strange-‘Used to say what?’

‘Mm?’

‘On Venus.’

‘Oh yes They had this proverb, you see,’ the Doctor said absently, making some minute adjustments ‘That’s when there were still people on Venus to have proverbs Before the – ’ He stopped, grunting with concentration

‘So what was the proverb?’

‘Mm? Oh yes “You’d swallow a Klakluk and choke on a Menian dustfly.” ‘

‘What for?’

‘You can let go now.’

‘Oh Oh yes.’ Sarah let go and wiggled the stiffness out

of her fingers ‘So what’s all that got to do with going back

to Atlantis?’

‘Well,’ said the Doctor, ‘you’ve travelled in the TARDIS yourself about eight hundred years back to Merrie England.’

‘Merrie! That lot!’

Their hosts, if that’s what they could be called, in the mediaeval castle to which the TARDIS had taken them seemed to spend most of their time killing each other – when not engaged in trying to kill the Doctor and Sarah The Doctor laughed and walked over to the TARDIS

‘Yes, a grim bunch, weren’t they, old Irongron and his chums But if you can swallow that, why choke on a mere three thousand years more?’ He went inside

Sarah called after him ‘Yes but Atlantis wasn’t a real place It’s a fantasy, a legend!’

But the Doctor wasn’t listening He returned with a long wire which led out of the door and came back to the bench

‘Mark you,’ he said ‘it was quite a hairy trip The poor old TARDIS was nearly done for Time Ram.’

Now what? What was the man talking about?

‘Don’t tell me,’ she said ‘The TARDIS was attacked by

a randy sheep with a clock for a face.’

The Doctor looked at her severely ‘Time collision! She

collided with another TARDIS in the Time Vortex They ended up inside each other.’

Eh?

‘You mean the TARDIS was inside the other one?’

‘That’s right And the other one was inside the TARDIS.’

At the same time?

‘At the same time?’

‘You’ve got it Very disturbing If you went out of one you found yourself in the other And vice versa No way of getting out Like being inside a four-dimensional Moebius strip.’

Oh well Perhaps it hadn’t been such a good idea ‘I’ve got a feeling that you’re not taking this interview very seriously Doctor.’

‘Interview?’

‘My editor is going to say that it’s all a load of old ’ Watch it! bananas,’ she finished feebly, avoiding

‘codswallop’ by a breath

The Doctor stood up from the task of attaching the power lead to his circuit He was not pleased ‘Do you

mean to tell me that you’ve been interviewing me?’

‘Well, yes For my magazine Metropolitan.’

The Doctor was haughty ‘Without even asking me?’

‘But you know I’m a journalist I thought you I did say

I wanted to have a bit of a chat, now didn’t I?’

A flicker of emotion passed across the patrician face What could it be? Disappointment?

Sarah floundered on ‘And I thought, since we got on so well, I mean, after all we’d been through together ’

The Doctor’s lips were thin ‘My dear Miss Smith,’ he said, ‘you are hardly entitled to take such a liberty just because you saved my life a couple of times.’ He looked up with irritation as the door swung open

Sarah recognized the man in the army uniform who had come in It was the officer – a Brigadier, wasn’t he? – who had been in charge of security at the research establishment

‘Ah, there you are, Doctor,’ he was saying

The Doctor was even more irritated ‘Well, of course I am,’ he said ‘Where else should I be but in my own laboratory?’

But the Brigadier had turned to Sarah

‘Good morning,’ he said

‘Good morning,’ she replied with relief If only he knew what a welcome interruption he was!

But the Doctor wasn’t going to let her off so lightly

‘This is Miss Sarah Jane Smith A journalist,’ he said icily

‘She’s just leaving.’ He switched on his circuit It made a low humming sound

Oh dear, oh dear She really had blown it, hadn’t she?

‘Look, Doctor,’ she said, ‘I really am sorry if I’ve upset you but –’

‘A journalist?’ said the Brigadier ‘When we last met, you were some sort of scientist, surely? Studied, er, bugs

wasn’t it?’

Oh Lord! Things were getting more complicated by the minute ‘Bugs?’ she said brightly ‘Oh, that sort of bug Viruses and things Yes I mean, no That was my Aunt Lavinia.’

The low humming of the circuit was getting louder and higher as the Doctor adjusted something in its innards

‘Really? I would have sworn – ’

‘Is it important, Brigadier? Because I’m trying to get some work done.’

‘Good-bye, Miss Smith,’ the Doctor added in a near shout, over the electronic screaming beneath his fingers

‘But, Doctor – ’

‘The Psycho-Telemetric circuit of the TARDIS has gone on the blink and – ’ Pop! The unbearable noise stopped A small wisp of smoke drifted up

‘Now look what you’ve both made me do Brigadier! What do you want, for Pete’s sake?’

The Brigadier seemed to be in no way put out ‘I want you to come with me to the opening of this new exhibition thing on Hampstead Heath.’

‘Exhibition?’

‘Theme park: funfair; whatever.’

‘You mean Space World?’ said Sarah, glad of a change of subject ‘I might come too The press launch is at twelve.’

‘Lethbridge-Stewart!’ said the Doctor, ‘Let me understand you aright You have catastrophically interrupted a very tricky operation – on which, I may say, the entire navigation system of the TARDIS could depend – to invite me to a children’s funfair?’

The Brigadier explained The body of a young man had been found near the perimeter fence of Space World He seemed to have been attacked by some sort of animal Scotland Yard had turned the investigation over to UNIT and the Brigadier had thought it wise to take charge himself

‘I have to get stuck in straightaway Before the Press

arrive Ask a few questions, that sort of thing.’

‘Ask Miss Smith to hold your hand, then She’s very good as asking questions.’

Okay, okay, so she’d got it wrong Did he have to go on about it?

‘I need your help, Doctor You see, the reason the police want us to be involved was – well, apparently the thigh bone had been bitten clean through With one snap of the teeth.’

Hang on, there was a story here

‘There isn’t a creature on Earth capable of doing that.’

‘Precisely,’ said the Brigadier ‘The pathologist said in his report that it looked as if the man had been savaged by ’ He paused

Well? Well? By what, for Heaven’s sake!

The Brigadier continued somewhat hesitantly ‘It sounds absurd, I know, but – by a six-foot, sabre-toothed rottweiler.’

Oh Lordy! Was there ever a story here! Let them try to stop her coming too!

Chapter Three

As Billy Grebber swallowed a couple of aspirin for his breakfast in lieu of his customary fry-up, he noticed that his hand was trembling Okay, he thought, so he was scared

And it was all so unfair He’d always tried to keep his nose clean Well, more or less What was the point of making a pile of dosh, if you were looking over your shoulder all the time for the fuzz – or worse? And as for duffing up the opposition, or having a ruck with every geezer who tried it on, well, leave it out Look at Tel, who’d ended up splattered all over a car park in Bethnal Green for coming the old soldier with that tearaway from Brum Or Tel’s brother for that matter, going slowly crazy

in Parkhurst

And now, just when he was on the verge of making a couple of sovs for himself out of his share in Space World (he reckoned on half a million, give or take the odd grand), he’d got himself mixed up with a pair of maniacs who His stomach turned again as the image of the previous night rose up before his mind’s eye He groaned What the hell was he going to do? The Old Bill weren’t stupid They’d soon make the connection And then what? Billy

As he hurried through the spacious avenues to the comparative peace of the administrative block he could see that Space World was coming to life No longer the

deserted building site of yesterday, it swarmed with smartly uniformed ‘Space Stewards’, as the staff were designated A bunch of metallic ‘Robot Guides’ (out of work actors glad to earn an anonymous pittance) were being rehearsed in their duties by an authoritative gentleman with a handlebar moustache and a Space Pilot’s uniform The sound of a technician’s voice booming through the public address system and snatches of space age music competed with strange roars and shrieks apparently emanating from hidden monsters

The interview with Freeth did not start well Sweating with nerves as much as from his rush from the car park – why did these toffee-nosed gits always make him feel he was back at school? – he struggled in vain to dent the facade of well-upholstered confidence which the Chairman presented to the world

‘In any case,’ said Freeth, imperturbably, ‘you’re too late Two gentlemen from ’ He glanced at a note on his vast mahogany desk ‘ UNIT – some sort of Special Branch, I suppose – are e’en now plodding their way towards us.’ He took a small handful of pink cachous and popped a few between his moist lips

Billy Grebber could feel his guts tying themselves in knots

‘We’ve got to tell them the truth!’ he said

‘The truth!’

‘Well, not the truth as such, I suppose We’ll have to say

it was an accident or something.’

He was certainly getting a reaction now!

‘We shall do nothing of the kind!’ Freeth’s florid lips had tightened to a hard line

Grebber was quick to seize his advantage ‘Now you listen to me, Mr Freeth –’

‘You’d be better advised to listen to me!’ Freeth spoke with a vicious sharpness

In less than a moment, however, he had regained his customary urbanity He gave Grebber a charming smile ‘I

shall be ever in your debt for the excellent job your people have done on the site,’ he said ‘That dinky little pavilion for the Love Worms! Sheer delight! And I promise that you’ll see a more than worthwhile return on your investment But you’re playing with the big boys now.’

‘That’s all very fine, but – ’

Freeth went relentlessly on ‘You saw last night how my esteemed colleague, Mr Tragan, ah, “gets his kicks”.’

Grebber shuddered Tragan’s enjoyment was somehow the worst part of it

‘If I should drop the least little smidgeon of a hint – and

I do assure you that it would hurt me more than it would hurt well, no Perhaps not But there, business is business I have my shareholders to think of.’ He chewed a few more of the scented sweets The sickly smell caught the back of Grebber’s throat He swallowed

‘You wouldn’t dare,’ he said

Freeth’s face lit up ‘Oh, we’re playing “dare” now, are we?’ he said gleefully ‘What fun! Go on, then, try me.’

A buzzer sounded on his desk He leaned forward ‘Yes, Tracey?’

‘The gentlemen from UNIT are here, Mr Freeth.’

‘Send them in, my dear.’ He looked up at Grebber and twinkled at him mischievously ‘Now’s your chance!’ he said

Determined not to lose contact with her source, Sarah had bummed a lift from the Doctor in his little old fashioned car, which he called ‘Bessie’ He seemed more friendly now there was something real to think about It was clear, however, that the Brigadier would not be pleased if she tried to muscle in on the investigation itself

All the same, she could feel the rising excitement, the restless energy which told her that she was onto a good story As she waited in the phone box opposite the door into which they had vanished, she found herself grinning cheerfully at a man standing waiting to make a call

Another journalist, presumably He pointed at the phone and tapped his watch She shrugged and turned her back

on him as her editor came back

‘Yes, I’m still here Who’ve I got?’

‘Well, that’s the thing There isn’t a photographer in the place They’re all on assignment.’

‘What? Clorinda! Don’t do this to me! I must have one!’

‘How is it, Sarah Jane dear, that it’s always “must” with you?’

The man outside rapped on the glass ‘You laying eggs

in there?’

She desperately waved him away Whatever he wanted,

it could never be as important as her story ‘You’ve simply got to find somebody I mean, if you can’t supply the backup, what’s the point of employing the finest investigative journalist in the business?’

‘Pause for hollow laughter,’ replied Clorinda

‘Look, I’m in the driving seat on this one I’ll be able to find out if these monsters of theirs are real I mean if they’ve been killing people –’

‘Oh, be your age.’

‘Well, the UNIT lot seem to think it’s possible Anyway,

if they’re not real, I can get an exclusive on how the wretched things are worked You can run a “Metropolitan reveals all” on it But let’s face it, either way it’d be a bit naff without any pics Come on!’ The phone started to beep

at her to put in some more coins ‘And I’ve run out of money!’ she added in something of a squeak

Clorinda sighed ‘Okay, you win I’ll do my best But I can’t – ’

Her voice was cut off

‘About time too,’ said the waiting reporter as she opened the door

Sarah looked at him ‘Why didn’t I go in for shovelling horse manure like my dear papa wanted?’ she said

Having been in Intelligence for many years, the Brigadier

was quite accustomed to police-type questioning and the many different ways those questioned sought to deflect the questioner

The man Grebber, for instance, he thought, with his one syllable answers He didn’t give the impression of a man who was easily scared and yet And as for the fellow Freeth, well, he was too helpful by half He should have been more exasperated that they’d turned up at such an awkward time, with the press view starting at any moment Yet he’d welcomed them in, offered them a drink (which they’d refused), insisted on sending for this fellow Tragan – a nasty piece of work, if ever he’d seen one – and had fallen over himself to answer everything that either he or the Doctor could think to ask

‘You say that you and Mr Tragan arrived shortly after eleven o’clock You’re quite sure of that?’

Before Freeth could answer, Tragan interrupted in a hectoring voice obviously intended to intimidate ‘This is ridiculous!’ he said ‘Badgering a man in Mr Freeth’s position in this way! We can vouch for each other And there’s an end to it.’

The Doctor interposed a gentle enquiry ‘Were you once

a policeman, Mr Tragan?’

‘What of it?’ he answered belligerently

‘I thought as much,’ continued the Doctor ‘Similar characteristics the world over One might almost say, universally?’

The Brigadier cocked an eye at the Doctor Was there a particular emphasis on ‘universe’? At any rate, it seemed to have silenced Tragan – for the moment, at least

Freeth came in smoothly ‘Mr Tragan is now Chairman of the Corporation He is the Head of the Entertainments Division.’

Vice-‘Quite a career change,’ said the Doctor ‘Fascinating.’ Tragan turned from him, his face as inscrutable as ever His manner to the Brigadier hardly altered

‘Now, listen to me, Brigadier Whatever-your-name-is,

we’ve told you all we know, and that’s nothing at all Right?’

Cheeky blighter, thought the Brigadier ‘Just routine,’

he said, in the time-honoured phrase ‘And my name, as I told you, is Lethbridge-Stewart.’

‘Well, get to the point, man,’ snapped Tragan

‘With pleasure The point, Mr Freeth, is that according

to the police,’ the Brigadier said, glancing at his notes

‘your man was in the gatehouse having his supper, and therefore awake, from a quarter to eleven on And Mr Kitson’s car was the last one to come through the gate How would you account for that?’

‘Oh, God!’

All the heads swung round ‘What is it, Mr Grebber?’ asked the Doctor

‘Nothing Nothing,’ blurted Grebber

The Brigadier nodded to himself The chap was scared

No doubt about it

Freeth heaved a rich sigh ‘Brigadier, the company I have the privilege of serving is a very large one In fact, I think I could say without fear of contradiction, that it is the largest multi-national in existence.’

‘So what are you saying, sir?’

‘It would be a pity, as I’m sure you would agree, if such a company were to begrudge its chairman the use of a teensy-weensy little corporate chopper.’

‘A helicopter!’ said the Doctor

The Brigadier looked at him Now what? He sounded as

if this was practically an admission of guilt But the Doctor hadn’t finished ‘I see!’ he added, as if this answered every question that could possibly be asked

‘And what exactly do you see, Doctor?’ Tragan said grimly

‘Quite a lot, Mr Tragan You’d be surprised.’

So should I, thought the Brigadier ‘Well, Mr Freeth,’

he continued aloud, ‘I think that covers everything for the moment Thank you for your help.’

‘Don’t hesitate to contact me at any time,’ said Freeth The Doctor eyed him beadily ‘We shan’t In fact, I think I can promise you that we shall meet again quite soon No, please,’ he added to Tragan, who had not moved,

‘we can see ourselves out.’

As soon as the door closed, Grebber burst into speech

‘They’re on to us! That Doctor guy He knows He knows,

I tell you!’

‘Quiet!’ hissed Tragan ‘They’ll hear you!’

‘Tragan!’ Freeth’s disarming air of helpless innocence had quite vanished

‘What is it?’

‘I want to know who that Doctor is Where he comes from; what his qualifications are; what was the maiden name of his maternal great grandmother The lot! And I want to know a year last Tuesday Right?’

Chapter Four

Oh Lor’! Here they come – and still no sign of any of Clorinda’s photographers, thought Sarah, as she spotted the Doctor, deep in conversation with the Brigadier, coming out of the office block

Pushing her way through the gathering crowd of journalists, she tried to get near enough to hear what they were saying But what with the blaring sci-fi music coming through the loudspeakers and the usual ribald chat of her colleagues, it wasn’t until she was almost on top of them that she could make out their words

‘You obviously noticed something about that shower that I missed,’ the Brigadier was saying

‘Not a bit of it.’

‘Thought you’d spotted that they’d all got Martian socks

on Or whatever.’

‘That’s just what I hoped they would think.’

Sarah lurked as near as she dared, elaborately pretending that she hadn’t noticed them, still keeping an eye towards the entrance

‘You brought me here to find out whether there’s an alien dimension to this death If there is, and our friends are in fact involved, they’ll be quite worried now And a worried man is a careless man.’

‘Ah,’ said the Brigadier ‘Yes Clever stuff.’

Oh dear, they’d stopped talking

She sneaked a glance at them They were both staring straight at her

‘Oh, hello!’ she said brightly

‘We meet again, Miss Smith,’ the Brigadier said drily

‘Yes, we do, don’t we?’ She gave a little laugh It sounded unconvincing even to her

There was an awkward pause

‘Are you going to join us on this guided tour affair? Due

to start in a couple of jiffs.’

Was there a hint of reservation behind the polite words? The Doctor certainly had a sardonic lift to his eyebrow But it was a chance too good to lose

‘Yes I’d love to I’m just waiting for the magazine’s photographer.’ Where was he for Pete’s sake? She desperately scanned the chattering groups And then she saw him: a slight figure bemusedly wandering through the throng clutching a small camera case to his expensively clad bosom as though it might try to escape Jeremy? What

on earth did Clorinda think she was doing?

His face cleared as she called out to him He hurried over ‘Sarah! Thank goodness I found you All these people!’

‘You’re not a photographer,’ she said in despair

‘Ah well, you see,’ he answered in his impeccably upper class voice, ‘I’ve got a message from Clorinda about that She said to say that er “she told you she’d do her best and

so she’s sent me and you’re not to laugh”.’ He frowned ‘I don’t quite know what she meant.’

‘I feel more like crying You don’t know anything about taking photographs.’

‘No, no,’ said Jeremy eagerly ‘You’re going to do all that stuff Clorinda’s sent her own camera and if a monster eats

it we’re both sacked.’

Yes, very funny, she thought noticing out of the corner

of her eye the smile twitching at the corner of the Doctor’s mouth

‘I’m so sorry.’ she said, hearing herself echoing Jeremy’s la-di-da tones ‘Doctor, Brigadier, may I introduce Jeremy Fitzoliver? Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and the Doctor,’ she said to Jeremy

‘How do you do,’ Jeremy said stiffly Typical! Why couldn’t he have said ‘Hello’? Or even ‘Hi, there’? ‘How do you do’ hardly went with his casual soft leather jacket (which must have cost a bomb and a half), or his designer jeans Though on second thoughts, looking at that knife- edge crease

The music stopped The babble of the assembled men and women of the press died away, as the voice of a slim young man standing with Freeth on the steps of the first pavilion boomed across the open square: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen! If you would like to gather over here?’

‘Fitzoliver?’ said the Brigadier, as they started to drift over with the rest, ‘Any relation of Teddy Fitzoliver?’

‘My Uncle Edmund, sir?’

Sarah knew Uncle Edmund – or rather knew of him Only the majority shareholder in Metropolitan, wasn’t he?

‘Good Lord I was at school with him.’

‘I went to Hothorough too,’ said Jeremy ‘Only left last year as a matter of fact.’

The Brigadier chuckled ‘Haven’t seen Pooh Fitzoliver for years.’ His recollections were apparently tickling his sense of humour ‘Well, well, good old Pooh.’

‘“Pooh”?’ the Doctor said unbelievingly

‘Came of being called Teddy,’ explained the Brigadier

‘Bear of very little brain, you know.’

That figures, thought Sarah trailing along behind the newly established Old Boys’ network

Sarah couldn’t pay proper attention to the Chairman’s introduction – in which he contrived to mention the Parakon Corporation three times in as many minutes – because of her very real fears for his safety Perched on the top of the flight of steps leading to the pavilion containing the Crab-Clawed Kamelius (the what?) he kept rising to the very tips of his elegant over-polished shoes Teetering

on the edge, his massive form swayed with passionate intensity as he extolled the delights of Space World and the wonders they were all about to experience

She was vastly relieved when, having invited them all to join him afterwards for a ‘wee snifter and some munchies

in the Space Restaurant at the top of the Apollo Tower’, he handed over the running of things to his friend and colleague, Maroc Kitson, and tripped lightly down the

steps and out of sight

‘Maroc? What sort of a name is that?’ said the Brigadier

‘You may well ask.’ replied the Doctor

Kitson, having explained that the Crab-Clawed Kamelius was a native of the deserts of Aldebaran Two, a small planet about the size of Venus, invited them all to make its acquaintance Before they could go inside, however, he stopped them

‘There’s just one thing,’ he said gravely ‘Although every precaution has been taken, I should point out that all the creatures I am going to show to you are killers Keep on the right side of the barrier and, for your own safety, make

no sudden moves or loud noises.’

This was greeted by laughter, combined with cries of

‘Come off it!’ and the like

Sarah had her eye on the Doctor He’s not laughing, she thought Nor’s the Brig

For that matter, it was plain that Jeremy had no idea why anybody should be laughing at all; and when Kitson continued, ‘And, of course, no photography is allowed,’ he glanced at Sarah as if he were afraid she would send him back to the office

Kitson’s dictum was greeted by cries of protest; it was only when it became clear that the Kamelius’s guests would not be allowed past the lobby without surrendering their cameras to the large Space Cop at the inner door that

it was ungraciously accepted

‘You’ll get them back at the end of the tour,’ said Kitson ‘Don’t worry You’ll all be supplied with a handsome pack of shots in the hospitality room at lunchtime.’

Thank you Clorinda dear, thought Sarah, slipping the mini-compact that Jeremy had brought into her jacket pocket

Inside, the occupant of the pavilion was still not in view

A long handsome gallery in a vaguely classical-but-alien style was bounded on one side by a shimmering curtain of

opalescent light, full with changing colour like the sway of shot silk A murmur of appreciation rippled through the audience

‘I say,’ Jeremy whispered to Sarah, ‘this is something else!’

Something else? Honestly, he was always about ten years out of date! (Sarah was now feeling almost affectionate towards him.) Still, he wasn’t wrong She’d certainly never seen anything quite like it before

Kitson made his way to the front of the gathering, as another security guard dressed as a Space Cop, carrying a heavy rifle which looked as if it would stop a rhinoceros charging, came in through a small door at the side Sarah became aware of a low chattering gobble, apparently coming from behind the obscuring luminescence

Kitson raised his hand for attention; the noise grew in a rapid crescendo to a great roar like the sound of an entire brass band playing together the ultimate discord; Kitson was forced to raise his voice to an undignified bellow

‘Ladies and Gentlemen!’ he cried ‘May I present to you – the Crab-Clawed Kamelius!’

The curtain of light melted away The Kamelius was revealed

‘Good grief!’ said the Brigadier

A remarkably realistic desert background seemed to stretch away into the distance, but the Kamelius was standing only a few yards away In spite of its name, it had the merest suspicion of a hump Its body was like that of an armadillo the weight of an African elephant, with legs of a similar size, though these too were clad in armour-like scales Its cavernous red mouth, still gaping as it roared its displeasure, revealed two rows of teeth designed, it would seem, to crunch up a mouthful of rocks Most fearsome of all, the claws – very like a crab’s – at the ends of the two extra limbs attached to its shoulders, were clearly capable

of snipping through the odd arm, or leg (or even neck) that ventured too near

The ladies and gentlemen of the press drew back Sarah felt Jeremy moving discreetly behind her

‘It’s a real animal!’ said the Brigadier, as the jabber of astonishment mounted in volume ‘It’s the real thing!’ Sarah quite agreed with him This was no animated puppet She looked to see how the Doctor was reacting to the extraordinary beast

‘Have you ever seen a Crab-Clawed Kamelius before, Brigadier?’ asked the Doctor

‘Of course not.’

‘No And you’re not seeing one now.’

Was he saying it wasn’t real? Was she supposed to disbelieve the evidence of her own eyes? ‘Well, I certainly wouldn’t like to meet it up a dark alley,’ she said

The Doctor raised his voice, over that of the Kamelius, which had subsided to the grumbling gobble they had first heard ‘Where did you say this beast comes from, Mr Kitson?’

‘The deserts of Aldebaran Two,’ he replied, ‘which cover most of the planet.’

‘I see,’ the Doctor went on ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Aldebaran about sixty-eight light years away from Earth? Something in the region of four hundred billion miles?’

‘Quite right.’

‘Then would you be so good as to explain how you managed to persuade the creature to come to Hampstead Heath?’

Kitson smiled ‘That, sir, would be telling.’

The assembled company, who had rather sheepishly regained their nerve now that the Kamelius seemed to have lost interest in them, laughed sycophantically

What a lot of creeps, thought Sarah, pretending they hadn’t been scared

She looked over at the enormous creature, which was moving slowly away from them, its little red eyes scanning the ground as it swung the great head from side to side

Kitson went on to explain that it was searching for its prey – a creeping land mollusc with a carapace as thick as a tortoise’s, but Sarah was paying very little attention She grasped the camera in her side pocket and tried to work out the safest way of snatching a quick shot – though the Kamelius’s backside would hardly make the picture of the year

‘That’s why it’s got claws, I suppose,’ said a rather dim columnist with scatty straw hair who normally wrote about the vicissitudes of living with her loveably madcap family

‘To get at the meat,’ she explained helpfully

‘That’s right,’ said Kitson, eyeing her disingenuous bosom, which casually contrived to look as if it were about

to spill out of her shirt ‘Though I don’t suppose he’d object to a morsel of ready-shelled journalist’

She nervously joined in the laughter

Now! But Sarah started to pull the camera out of her pocket she felt Kitson’s eye on her

It’s no good, she said to herself If he didn’t see me, that security guard certainly would It wouldn’t help much to get thrown out

‘I say,’ Jeremy breathed in her ear

‘What?’

‘Aren’t you going to take a photo?’

‘Oh, shut up!’ she said

Billy Grebber sat in his car and rubbed his damp palms with the clean linen handkerchief which, even in the midst

of his morning turmoil, he’d remembered to select from the dozen or so in his drawer He’d come a long way from his brickie days, he thought as, with trembling hands, he folded it carefully and stuck it back in his top pocket Where did that Freeth get off, talking to him like he was his office boy? He was a flipping councillor, wasn’t he? And if he played his cards right, he’d end up mayor

A spasm of fear and anger clutched his belly Why should he risk it all? It was murder, no two ways about it

And if it came out, he’d get done as an accessory, just because he was there, and because he’d lied to that Doctor geezer and said he didn’t know nothing

Suppose he went and got it off his chest? But if he did

He heard again the screams and the sound of tearing flesh Tragan’s face flickered across his mind He started to shake He fumbled for his handkerchief and frantically tried once more to dry the cold sweat from his hands

Freeth said, ‘Well?’

Ragan held up a hand ‘Thank you; you’ve been most helpful,’ he said and put the phone down

‘I’ve found out what we need to know about the Doctor,’

he said, anticipating Freeth’s next question

‘And how did you manage to do that?’

‘I rang UNIT and asked them.’

‘A cunning ploy indeed,’ said Freeth, sinking onto the sofa, which he neatly filled, designed as it was to accommodate two

‘The fools fell over themselves to give me the information As much as they had, that is to say.’

Freeth dug into his pocket and produced a small paper hag ‘Well, well, well Maybe friend Grebber has good reason to be worried, after all Where is he, by the way?’

‘The Doctor?’

‘Grebber.’ Freeth started to unwrap a treacle toffee ‘In the circumstances I don’t like the idea of his running around loose He could be a problem.’ He placed the toffee

in his mouth His tongue flicked out and licked his finger and thumb

Tragan rose from his desk and moved to the door

‘Maybe the problem needs a solution,’ he said ‘A terminal

Jeremy was thoroughly enjoying visiting the various monsters Even the Giant Ostroid, he thought A bit like

an oven-ready turkey on stilts, she was They didn’t actually see her disembowelling an elephant or running at two hundred and twenty miles an hour, as Kitson told them she could In fact, she didn’t do anything much at all but look at them with her saucer eyes and occasionally give

a loud belch which was jolly funny and made everybody laugh

The Piranhatel Beetles were much more like it They’d been thrown some sort of carcase just before the gang came

in They came swarming out of the undergrowth from every direction, hundreds upon hundreds of them: six inches long, with scarlet and black shells (did beetles have shells?) and these great tearing, biting thingies sticking out

of their faces They’d set upon the dead cow or whatever it was and in thirty-two point seven seconds – Kitson timed

it with a stop watch – they’d stripped it down to its skeleton; just a lot of bare bones; just sticking up out of the grass Made you think Could have been you! Great!

But the best of all, so far, was the Stinksloth He smelt worse than old Smellybelly Jenks in the third form – funny how his people took him away after only a term – and that was saying something He lived in a pit of foul mud or worse – the Stinksloth, not Jenks, though that wouldn’t have surprised anyone – and slurped around looking like a – well, a bit like one of those big sea lion thingies that lie around on the beach (the ones that have a thousand wives, and jolly tiring that must be, so no wonder they lie around!) only crossed with a jellyfish, sort of out-of-focus

at the edges

‘The stench of putrefaction coming from his pit,’ Kitson was saying, ‘is due, I’m afraid, to his habit of storing the decomposing corpses of the giant slugs that he likes for breakfast in his sleeping corner Ah, there! He’s eating one now!’

Oh, yuck! Oh, double yuck! Jeremy thought

And then, just when he was really enjoying himself, there was Sarah, pulling at his elbow and hissing in his ear

‘Come along, Jeremy,’ she was saying as if she was his sister

or something

‘Can’t take it, eh?’

‘Oh, don’t be so silly Come on!’

And she pulled him out of the pavilion and down the steps

‘Where are we going?’ said Jeremy, desperately trying to keep up as she set off at a fast walk, almost a trot, while glancing from side to side as if she didn’t want anybody to see where they were off to

‘I need you to keep watch,’ she replied through her teeth ‘I’m going to get a candid camera shot of that Kamelius thing!’

Luckily, everybody they saw seemed to be far too busy getting ready for the afternoon opening to notice them, even when Sarah, with a quick secret-service-type look left and right, disappeared behind the Kamelius house Jeremy blundered after her

‘Where are you going?’

‘We can hardly march straight in through the front door,’ she hissed

‘But what about that fellow with the gun?’ he whispered, almost tripping over the mess of cables in the small back room which led to the side door

‘Sssh!’ With infinite caution, Sarah eased open the door and peeped through the crack ‘It’s all right,’ she whispered, ‘there’s nobody here.’

‘Oh I say,’ said Jeremy as he followed her in, ‘the

beastly thing’s gone.’

‘No, there he is – coming out from behind that dune.’ Jeremy peered across the the heat shimmer rising from the sand Oh, yes But how could he be forty yards away, or more like fifty, when the pavilion itself was less than half that size? A phrase shimmered in his head like the hot air

in front of him Optical illusion? Yes, that was it Sort of scientific conjuring ‘Oo look! He’s eating a tortoise thingy!’ He could hear the crunch as the Kamelius cracked open the shell with its immense claws

Sarah already had the camera up to her eye and was muttering under her breath

‘Sorry?’ said Jeremy

‘I said ’ Sarah took the camera away from her eye and turned to him ‘Oh, for Heaven’s sake? Don’t just stand there! Go and see if there’s anybody in the lobby Keep a look-out!’ She spoke in a cross stage-whisper, sort of shouting at him under her breath

Feeling got at – after all, she hadn’t said – Jeremy went

to peep through the main door into the reception lobby

No, there was no-one there either If he stuck his head out

a bit, he could see into the open square outside, but the odd member of staff passed by without a glance

He could hear Sarah’s voice, behind him, interspersed with the clicking of the camera: ‘That’s it, sweetheart, look this way Lovely, lovely Come towards me Come on, I won’t bite That’s my boy!’

The Kamelius had started its gobbling noise again – and

it was getting louder Jeremy looked round Much to Sarah’s delight, the creature was coming towards her at a fair old rate of knots Perhaps he ought to warn her

‘Oi! You!’

He swung round in a panic Outside, there was a tough- looking man about twenty feet away who was looking straight at him ‘Yes, you! I want a word with you!’ He made for Jeremy with purpose in his gait

‘Sarah! Cave! There’s someone coming!’

The Kamelius was almost on top of her and she was clicking away like mad ‘Sarah!’ shouted Jeremy

‘I’m on my way!’ she said As she lowered the camera, the Kamelius swung at her head with a claw gaping wide She fell backwards with a strangled squeal

Scrambling to her feet, she scuttled to Jeremy’s side ‘He nearly got me,’ she gasped But Jeremy was by now more concerned about the man coming up the steps

‘What are we going to say?’

Sarah took in the situation ‘Leave it to me,’ she said

‘Pretend to be a bit dim-witted.’

‘Eh?’ said Jeremy

She threw him a glance ‘On second thoughts, just stay

as sweet as you are.’

Shoving the camera into her pocket, she walked straight through the lobby and out of the front door, meeting the man as he reached the top of the steps ‘Hi there,’ she said

‘We were just having a bit of a look round.’

Grebber was looking for the Doctor Once he’d made up his mind what to do he’d begun to feel a bit better Of course, he’d never grassed on anybody before After all, it wasn’t as if he’d always been a plaster angel himself But it wouldn’t be like turning in a mate who’d bought a load of dodgy marble, or saved a bit here and there on the architect’s specification These people had got to be stopped

As for Tragan, well, he’d just have to keep out of his way ‘As long as he doesn’t know it was me what landed them in it, I’m safe,’ he said to himself, as he hurried through the endless avenues and squares of Space World, searching for the guided tour If he didn’t find them soon, though He could feel his resolution ebbing away He stopped and wiped his forehead He was back outside the Kamelius House, where the tour had started

Now, there was a face he recognized It was that kid who’d been with the Doctor He’d seen them out of the